While the New England Patriots and Los Angeles Rams prepare for Super Bowl LIII, there’s been plenty of activity around the NFL as the other 30 teams evaluate and make adjustments to their coaching staffs. Amid all the Super Bowl hoopla, here’s a rundown of some recent activity you may have missed:

ATLANTA FALCONS:
While head coach Dan Quinn survived a disappointing season, the Falcons did fire all three of their coordinators – offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian, defensive coordinator Marquand Manuel and special teams coordinator Keith Armstrong. It would appear that this coming season will be critical for Quinn. Dirk Koetter is the new OC. Quinn takes over as DC. The new special teams coordinator is Ben Kotwica, formerly with the Washington Redskins.

BUFFALO BILLS:
The Bills fired offensive line coach Juan Castillo, which was surprising because he and head coach Sean McDermott have a long history together; they worked on Andy Reid’s staff in Philadelphia from 2001-10. Castillo took over at defensive coordinator for McDermott when McDermott was fired by Reid after the 2010 season. The Bills o-line wasn’t expected to be good and they weren’t. They had to overcome losing a pair of veterans in center Eric Wood and Pro Bowl guard Richie Incognito.

DENVER BRONCOS:
When the Broncos hired Vic Fangio as head coach, it was widely reported that Gary Kubiak — former Broncos head coach and long-time friend of team president John Elway – would become Fangio’s offensive coordinator. Then a few days after Fangio was hired, there was a change of plan. Kubiak surprisingly left Denver to take the OC job with the Minnesota Vikings. Bizarre.

INDIANAPOLIS COLTS:
Speaking of bizarre, this was one of the more unexpected moves of the offseason. The Colts offensive line was arguably the most improved offensive line in football and a big reason why the team made the postseason. Yet soon after they lost to the Chiefs in the divisional playoffs, o-line coach Dave DeGuglielmo was fired. This was a surprise.

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS:
Running backs coach Tyrone Wheatley, who was fired earlier this month, had been hired by Jaguars head coach Doug Marrone in 2017. Wheatley previously worked on Marrone’s staffs at Syracuse and with the Buffalo Bills. He might have been the fall guy for running back malcontent Leonard Fournette.

MINNESOTA VIKINGS:
The Vikings chose not to renew the contract of special teams coordinator Mike Priefer, who had been with the team since 2011. He is now the special teams coordinator with the Cleveland Browns.

SEATTLE SEAHAWKS:
No coach spends more time with the players than the strength staff, and head strength and conditioning coach Chris Carlisle had been a staple of the team since 2010. He was hired by Pete Carroll at USC in 2009 and followed him to Seattle a year later. This is the second offseason in a row where the Seahawks have made significant changes to core members of the staff that came over from USC. Last year, they fired Kris Richard, who had been the defensive coordinator. This year, Carlisle was let go.

TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS:
New Bucs head coach Bruce Arians hired Todd McNair to be his running backs coach. McNair, a former NFL player who last coached in 2009 for USC, had been out of coaching since then – perhaps due to his alleged involvement in the Reggie Bush-related scandal at USC. This was a good opportunity for McNair to get back into the game – Arians was McNair’s coach back when he played at Temple.

With seven of the eight teams in this weekend’s playoffs headed by offensive-minded coaches, it’s no wonder that franchises looking to play into next January are also looking for the next Sean … Payton or McVay.

So what’s the deal with Denver?

The Broncos are the only team this month that hasn’t hired a head coach with a resume built on offense. Instead, they looked to the other side of the ball and hired former Chicago defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, an old-school assistant who bucks the current trend.

He hasn’t been a head coach before. He’s not young. He’s 60. Peyton Manning didn’t go to bat for him. And, no, he can’t help Case Keenum cut down on those turnovers.

Talk about an out-of-the-box hire.

With young offensive coordinators the flavor of this month, conventional wisdom says Denver has lost its way. But I disagree. In fact, I’d argue the Broncos may have just found it.

And here’s why: Remember when they last won a Super Bowl? It was three years ago when Manning was the quarterback and Gary Kubiak the head coach. But that team wasn’t built around Manning. He was 38 by then and no longer Peyton Manning, throwing nearly twice as many interceptions (17) as touchdowns (9), missing seven starts and producing a career-low 67.9 passer rating.

Instead, the Broncos were all about a suffocating defense, and they demonstrated it in Super Bowl 50. Pressuring then-league MVP Cam Newton with a furious pass rush, they produced seven sacks, forced three fumbles and one interception, scored a defensive touchdown and pushed Manning across the finish line in a game where Denver had 11 first downs and fewer than 200 yards in offense – the lowest ever by a Super Bowl winner.

But that was the Broncos’ formula for success. This was the same defense that repelled, in succession, Ben Roethlisberger, Tom Brady and Newton in the playoffs, and that led the league that season in total defense, pass defense and sacks. Moreover, it was the unit that produced the second defensive Super Bowl MVP in 13 years.

That, of course, was linebacker Von Miller, who produced six tackles, two-and-a-half sacks and two quarterback hurries and who forced two fumbles – one recovered for a touchdown and the other that led to a game-clinching score.

So what does that have to do with Fangio? Everything. With his hire, the Broncos landed the guy who headed the league’s stingiest defense in 2018 and whose unit was behind Chicago’s return as a league power. The Bears led the league in takeaways and interceptions, were third in points off giveaways and set a franchise record for fewest rushing yards allowed … and, yeah, okay, so they’re gone from the playoffs.

But don’t blame Fangio and his defense. They didn’t lose their game with Philadelphia last week. But they did win the regular season for a franchise that hadn’t been to the playoffs since 2010.

So there’s that.

The idea is that by hiring Fangio, the Broncos make a good defense great again, especially with the talent assembled on that side of the ball, and that Denver returns as a division heavyweight. In essence, it’s all about history: It worked once; it can work again.

Okay, fine. But what about Keenum and an offense that ranked 19th overall and 24th in scoring? Good question. Remember that we mentioned Kubiak coached the 2015 Broncos? Well, he’s back … only this time as Fangio’s offensive coordinator, and talk about a shrewd move. Kubiak has a storied history in Denver, winning Super Bowls as a backup quarterback and as a head coach.

No, he wasn’t there in 2013 when Manning circled the bases, setting all kinds of records before losing to Seattle in Super Bowl XLVIII. But that’s the point, people. The league’s highest-scoring offense that season couldn’t overcome the Legion of Boom. In fact, it was destroyed by it.

So Denver went to work on its defense, brought back Wade Phillips to run it and the rest you know.

Look, Kubiak isn’t in Denver to turn Case Keenum into Peyton Manning. It’s not going to happen with him or anyone else. But he is there to make enough improvements and adjustments in his quarterback that A) Keenum cuts down on his career-high 15 interceptions and that B) he makes that unit more productive and less destructive.

Then it’s all about Fangio’s defense, and we saw how that worked in Chicago. More importantly, we saw what a Fangio-like defense did three years ago in Denver. So maybe instead of looking at this as an unorthodox and out-of-the box move, you should start to view it as something more.

Not all head-coaching jobs are created equal. Eight teams currently have vacancies. Here’s our assessment of the quality of each open position:

1. Green Bay
Generally speaking, the entire coaching population favors this as a destination. Why? Because there is no owner – the Packers are the NFL’s only publicly-owned franchise. Traditionally, there also existed a strong scouting operation. Add in a strong fan base and a friendly local media, and you have an attractive coaching destination. The only concern here is that team president Mark Murphy is beginning to act like an owner.

2. Cleveland
There is a lot of young talent (especially at QB), draft picks stockpiled, a strong general manager, and a re-energized fan base with tolerable local media. The only downside at the moment is growing expectations for success – but at least those expectations are warranted.

3. Denver
The attraction here is a tradition of winning, a real home field advantage, a knowledgeable fan base, and now, modest expectations. In short, ownership and the fans know they have to rebuild, and that means they are ready to show some degree of patience. The downside is a looming ownership battle, and dealing with John Elway’s expectations.

4. Tampa Bay
There is a lot of talent on this team and a young quarterback who actually performed quite well over the last quarter of the season. The general manager is serviceable, and it is not a media hothouse. The downside is the quality of ownership. Rumor has it that they like to be involved, and not in a good way.

5. Miami
The owner is tough, but he is committed to winning, and right now, expectations are low. There are significant downsides, however. One, of course, is that you would be in the same division as the Patriots. Another is that you would be inheriting a rookie general manager. Finally, the roster needs to be rebuilt, and with a rookie general manager at the helm, that could go either way.

6. N.Y. Jets
The biggest plus is that the Jets have finally found a franchise quarterback in rookie Sam Darnold. The downsides are plenty. Right now, the general manager has a checkered record, and any head coach would be walking into a media hothouse. The roster also needs significant upgrades, and doing that while competing against Bill Belichick twice a year is going to be tough.

7. Cincinnati
There still exists some very good talent on this roster and, right now, expectations are fairly low. The biggest downside to this job is working with the Brown family and their particular style of ownership. This franchise simply lacks the resources of other franchises, and it is tough to compete under these circumstances in the modern NFL.

8. Arizona
Right now, if there is a positive attribute to this job it would be that Phoenix is a relatively nice place to live. Other than that, any new head coach would be walking into a complete rebuild, while the other three teams in the division are on the ascent (yes, we feel San Francisco will get there shortly). Arizona’s ownership also is seen as somewhat of an outlier within the NFL, and any new head coach will be working with a general manager who also is on a short leash.

Key Coaching Decision #1: (DEN ball, trailing 14-9 / 2-point conversion attempt / 10:10 Q4)
• A two-point conversion attempt from Case Keenum to wide receiver Courtland Sutton is intercepted by Chargers cornerback Casey Hayward. Not only does the conversion attempt fail, but Heyward returns the ball the other way for a two-point score for the Chargers. Rather than kick a PAT that would have it a 14-10 game, it is a seven point advantage for the Chargers (16-9). On the next possession, the Chargers score a touchdown and kick the PAT to give them an unsurmountable 23-9 lead.

• We understand why the Broncos went for two, but there was plenty of time remaining in the contest where they could have kicked the PAT and stayed within four points of the Chargers.

Key Observations:
• The Broncos were without rookie running back sensation Phillip Lindsay, as he was injured in Week 16.

• The win over the Broncos gave the Chargers a 7-1 road record. They have won six games in a row and face the Baltimore Ravens on the road during the upcoming Wild Card weekend.

• This was Vance Joseph’s final game as head coach. He finishes his Broncos head coaching tenure with an 11-21 record.

• Denver failed to get any points off two turnovers in the first quarter, both of them Philip Rivers interceptions.

• Melvin Gordon seemed to have turned an ankle late in the fourth quarter of a meaningless game (Kansas City was dominating Oakland, which meant the Chargers were locked into the No. 5 seed). Gordon was hurt earlier in the season during the third quarter of a game against the Arizona Cardinals.

• Facing a fourth down in Denver territory Cleveland went for the first down. Baker Mayfield completed a short pass to TE David Njoku for the first down. Denver was also called for a defensive holding penalty on the play. The Cleveland drive ended when Baker Mayfield fumbled and Denver defensive end Derek Wolfe recovered.

• Gregg Williams decided against increasing the lead to four points with a field goal and went for the first down. Nick Chubb was stopped for a two-yard loss on the play and Denver took over on downs. We feel in this situation the best option was to increase the lead to four points which would have required Denver to score a touchdown to win the game. On the following drive the Browns defense came up huge with a sack of Case Keenum to preserve the win.

Key Observations

• Cleveland played a great game on the defensive side of the ball and held the Broncos to a little over 250 yards of total offense and only 32 yards on the ground.

• Rookie running back Nick Chubb had a 100 yards on the ground and has really provided a boost to the Cleveland rushing attack since taking over the starting role.

• Denver rookie running back Phillip Lindsay has had a great season, but the last two weeks he has been shut down by San Francisco and Cleveland. Over the past two games he has carried the ball 28 times for 54 yards with only one touchdown.

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Headcoachranking.com assigns a grade to the in-game performance of NFL head coaches each week. Our knowledgeable graders analyze each head coach’s performance in 5 key areas of decision making. After determining their “HCR” (Head Coach Ranking), we rank them from best to worst. HCR rankings are posted every Tuesday of the NFL season, and fans will be able to track each coach’s performance throughout the season.